


It's Just a Lunchbreak, Right?

by YukiRiikus_Reading_Room



Category: Supernatural, Ten Inch Hero
Genre: Awesome Bobby, Boys In Love, Character Study, Cute, Developing Relationship, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Crack, Friendship, Hopeful Ending, M/M, No Plot/Plotless, Relationship(s), Vacation, fake case
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-08
Updated: 2013-04-08
Packaged: 2017-12-07 21:52:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/753492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YukiRiikus_Reading_Room/pseuds/YukiRiikus_Reading_Room
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Dean never meant to end up at a sandwich shop in Santa Cruz, but after Bobby calls to tell them their 'job' turned out to be his way of getting them to the beach for a vacation, they figured maybe they could use a break.  After all, after running into a super cute brunette and a tricked out Dean doppelganger, how could they NOT stay, at least for a little while?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Just for Lunch, I Swear.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written and rambled on from a request I got on Tumblr for a fic about what would happen if Dean met Priestly. There's no plot... there was never meant to be one, and this is just what I wrote. Initially it was written as lots of smaller chapters on Tumblr, but on here I just made it two bigger chapters instead.

“Why are we in Santa Cruz again?”  Sam rolled his eyes, pulling the Impala into an empty parking spot on the side of the road in the shopping district. 

 “This is the last time I’m telling you, so pay attention.”  Sam sighed, turning off the car and pulling out their Dad’s beat up journal.  “I got a call from one of Dad’s contacts that they saw a Sisiutl near the shoreline about a week ago.  A few days after that, mysterious murders started cropping up.  I figured we should at least check it out.”

 “What’s a Sisiutl?”

 “Some legends say it’s a snake spirit, some say its almost godlike and can shape shift into anything from a man to an animal… to a canoe that runs on seals.”  Sam laughed, turning the page in the journal.  “No one in the hunter community that I’ve talked to can vouch that it’s real, but then again, in some folklore, supposedly looking at this thing can kill you.  Touching it or it looking at you could also kill you.” 

 “How the hell are we supposed to kill something we can’t look at and that can’t look at us?”  Dean asked, getting out of the car and slamming his door shut.  Shoving his hands in his pockets he started off down the street.  “You research this shit before we get ourselves killed or go on a pointless goose chase.”

 “Where are you going?”

 “Lunch,” and with that, he walked into the shop, anything his little brother had to say getting lost as the door shut.

 Not that he would have been listening anyways – he’d caught sight of a girl.  An attractive one at that, too. 

“You’re not local, are you?”  The brunette asked, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger.  The blonde at the computer rolled her eyes, but smiled affectionately at the girl all the same.

 “Just rolled into town actually.”  Dean grinned, the girl’s smile widening.  “I’m Dean, by the way.”

 “Tish,” she grinned, pulling her notepad out of her pocket.  “So what can I get you?”

 “From the sound of things, a room at the motel and you with your clothes off, or at least that’s where it looks like this is going.”  Dean raised an eyebrow at the guy working the grill, his back still turned.  Tish rolled her eyes, throwing an apron at his head. 

 “No one asked you Priestly, mind your own business.”  The other two girls shared a look, both of them trying not to laugh. 

 “C’mon Tish, we all know this dance by now.”  Dean raised an eyebrow as Priestly turned around.  He had more metal in his head than anyone he’d seen since taking on those freaky Goth high school kids summoning demons to get out of their final exams back in Michigan a few months ago.  Taking the other girl not at the computer by the hand, Priestly started waltzing her around, Tish laughing as she watched with her hands on her hips.  “You’ll flirt with him, he’ll flirt with you and be all macho, you’ll act super innocent and then do that thing you do where you lie and say you’ve never had an orgasm with a man before.”

 “Do people actually look at you and still believe that?”  Dean asked, Priestly giving him the thumbs up.  Tish shrugged, a smile on her face as she looked between them.  “That would be a tragedy, if it were true though.” 

 “Exactly, at which point you’d make some boast about how you get all your partners off without fail and offer to let her have a test drive, which of COURSE she’d take.”  Priestly finished, throwing his hands up in the air.

 “There’s nothing wrong with a lady who likes sex.”  Dean grinned, winking at Tish.  The girl at the computer went red, ducking down behind her monitor.  “Anyone who says otherwise either isn’t having enough of it or can’t get any.”

 “I like this one, for once you didn’t pick a total waste of space.”  Priestly grinned, offering his fist to Dean.  The hunter paused for a minute before shrugged, pounding his fist with his own.  “There is one way to tell for sure though if he’d a total tool or not.”

 “You’re not serious, are you?”  The girl at the computer asked, raising an eyebrow when he nodded.  “You’re going to ask him the interview question?”

 “Why not?  He seems cool enough, this will tell for sure.”  Priestly grinned, turning back to Dean with a serious look on his face.  “Is Elvis alive or dead?”

 “Alive, as of last week.  My brother and I ran into him down in Disneyland.”  Dean said with a straight face, Tish rolling her eyes as Priestly started laughing.  To be fair, Dean HAD seen Elvis – thanks to Bella, his corpse had been moved from his home to California and put into one of their Haunted Mansion rides as a joke.  Bella hadn’t realized there was an actually curse on the building that would bring him back in all his zombie gyrating glory.  Dean left out that he’d put a pellet of rock salt through the singer before salting and burning his bones and sending the ashes back with Bella to be returned to his family discretely.

 “I like this one, good choice.”  Priestly grinned, patting Tish on shoulder.  “You can have whatever you want on the house.”

 “Seriously?”  Dean asked, grinning when he nodded.  “I think you just became my new best friend.”

 

 

******

There weren’t many things in the world anymore that could shock Sam Winchester.  After all, he’d seen a good handful of the weirdest spirits and monsters the world had to offer, as well as a dose of the craziness of both Heaven and Hell.

But watching his brother walk down the street towards him with a pretty girl and a guy who looked like his identical antithesis, that certainly made him do a double take.

“Hey Dean, I… what the hell?”  Sam raised an eyebrow at the three people coming towards him.  His brother – that was normal – as was the pretty girl with her arm looped in his.  It was the doppelganger that was throwing him off.  Except for the piercings, the bright pink Mohawk, and the kilt (albeit, he had gotten Dean into a kilt once, if only for an undercover mission to infiltrate a Scottish heritage society for a case) the guy on the other side of the girl linked to her other arm could have been his brother’s twin.

This case kept getting weirder and weirder. 

 

“Tish, Priestly, this is my little brother and business associate Sam.”  Dean said proudly when they reached where he stood leaning on the hood on the Impala still trying to get over how much alike his brother and the alternative guy looked.  That, and he was trying not to laugh at the slogan on his shirt: How Many Vegetables Had to Die for Your Salad?  “I was just telling them how we’re in town on vacation.”

“Does that mean you remembered to rent the motel room?”  Sam asked, laughing when Dean shook his head.  “You were at lunch this whole time?”

“That’s our fault, really.  First there was shameless flirting, and then we got to talking… you know how it is.”  Priestly shrugged, Tish nodding along with him.  For a split second, Sam considered whether that meant Dean had been flirting with him and not the waitress, but immediately put the thought out of his mind.  He didn’t think even Dean was vain enough to hit on a guy who looked just like him.  “So, Dean said something about you going to Stanford?”

“Yeah, I did.  It’s a great school, especially if you want to go into law like I did.”  Sam said.  Dean’s phone rang, Tish letting go of his arm so he could step away and take the call with some measure of privacy.  “So you two both work at the shop?”

“I waitress and Priestly runs the grill.”  Tish explained, letting go of her friends arm.  If he didn’t know better, Sam might have flirted with her.  But he knew Dean probably wouldn’t take kindly to him swooping in after the girl he’d just been walking down the sidewalk linked to.  Then again, as she batted her eyelashes at him, he wondered if SHE cared that she’d just been on his brother’s arm.  “So what do you do for a living, Stanford boy?”

“Dean and I mostly do odd jobs, nothing steady.  We like to travel a lot.”  Sam explained, shoving his hands in his pockets.  “I think the longest we’ve spent anywhere in the last few years was a little over a week.”

“Seriously?  Dude, that sounds rough.”  Priestly sighed, his look of saddened disgust so close to a similar look of his brother’s that Sam had to look away.  “You guys must have even less friends than I do.”

“Do coworkers even count as friends?”  Tish asked him, a playful bite to her voice.  He shoved her shoulder, a smile on his face as she stuck her tongue out at him.  “But seriously, your brother’s pretty cool.  He even passed the interview question.”

“What interview question?”  Sam asked, Priestly and the waitress exchanging a look.  Tish turned back to him squaring her shoulders.

“So, is Elvis alive or dead?”

“Alive, last I saw him, freaking people out on the Haunted Mansion ride.”  Sam shrugged, Tish and Priestly each high fiving him.

“We had the fucking jackpot with these guys!”  Priestly said, fist pumping the air.  Dean made his way back over to them shutting his phone.

“What was that about?”  Sam asked, raising an eyebrow at the weird look on his brother’s face.

“So that job we came out here to do?  Turns out Bobby fed us a fake case, said we needed some vacation time.  Apparently that job was a joke.”  Dean grinned, both of them laughing.  “Damn, Uncle Bobby strikes again.”

“You guys can bunk with me if you don’t want to pay for a hotel room.  I have a few guest bedrooms back at the compound.”  Priestly shrugged, Tish turning to give him a look.

“How come I’ve never seen your house before?”  She asked, Dean and Sam exchanging a curious look.

“Well you’re always out after work sleeping with someone, aren’t you?  When has there ever been time for you to stop by and see where I live?”  He asked, his voice only half serious.  She shrugged, a grin on her face.

“Can’t argue with that I guess.  Well if you guys need work, I’m sure we could find you something.”  Tish offered, lazily running a hand down Dean’s arm.  Priestly rolled his eyes, miming vomiting behind her head. 

“Actually, I think a vacation is just what we need.  What do you say Sam?  Think you can survive a few weeks without working?”  Dean asked, Priestly and Tish both giving him excited looks.

“What the hell, a little vacation could be good for us, right?”

 

 

******

 

It was only after heading back to the shop, Winchesters in tow, that Tish realized something crazy:

Priestly had invited two guys who were practically strangers (albeit strangers who had passed the interview question, thank God for that at least) back to his place when she’d never seen it.  As Dean and Sam hunkered down in a booth to discuss how they wanted to spend their vacation, Tish pulled Jen and Piper aside.

“Have either of you ever been invited back to Priestly’s house before?”  She asked, raising an eyebrow when they both shook their heads.

“I don’t even know which part of town he lives in, just that he walks to work so it can’t be THAT far.”  Piper shrugged, fiddling with the ties on her apron. 

“I’ve never had a reason to be invited over there.  I mean, we’re friends, but since we see each other every single day here we never really hang out outside of work.”  Jen said, flagging down Trucker has he walked by with his paper.  “Do you know where Priestly lives?”

“Can I just remind you fine ladies that I didn’t even know his first name until Tish got it out of him?”  Trucker grinned, patting Jen on the shoulder.  “That boy could live out of cardboard box and I wouldn’t know the difference.”

“Priestly, can you come here a second?”  Tish called, an idea formulating on how everyone could see where their favorite alternative rocker lived. 

Ignoring her, he kept right on talking to Sam and Dean like he hadn’t even heard her. 

“Hey, did you hear me Priestly?”  She tried again, her hands settling on her hips.

As Priestly waved a hand at her, still talking to Dean, Jen and Piper shared a look, both of them slinking back behind the counter for safety.  They knew Tish well enough to know she should NEVER be ignored, and the first thing she would do to get his attention.

“Hey BOAZ!” 

The reaction was immediate. 

 

The regular customers went quiet, Sam and Dean looking around in confusion at the sudden tension.  Panicked, Piper knelt down behind the counter pulling Jen out of her seat and onto the floor out of the potential line of fire as Priestly went rigid.  He straightened up and turned to look at her, his jaw set and angry.

“Really Tish?  You’re really going to go there?”  His voice was harsher than she’d ever heard it, excluding the time that he tried to defend her from Tad.  As he walked across the shop towards her she swallowed, immediately wishing she’d never opened her mouth.  As he stared down at her, she nearly started to cry – it wasn’t anger in his eyes, it was hurt.  “There’s a reason I don’t go by my first name, and it’s not just because it’s a fucking stupid name. God, I can’t believe you.  You know how hard it was for me to tell you my name when you asked before.”

“I’m sorry.”  She said, reaching out a hand to touch his shoulder.  He rolled it away from her, grabbing his coat and heading out of the shop.  Tish looked helplessly at Trucker who sighed, putting an arm around her shoulder.  “I didn’t realize it was a such a big deal to him.”

“People rarely realize what can set people off until it does angel, it’s not your fault.”  He sighed, shaking his head.  “He’ll be back, down worry.  He probably just went down the street to the bar for a drink or two.”

Trucker patted her on the shoulder once more before heading out to meet up with Zo for lunch.  Tish stood awkwardly in the middle of the shop for a few minutes, finally sighing and moving over to Sam and Dean’s table.

“I really hate to do this, but could you guys go check on him?  I’d go, but if we’re already down one person I probably shouldn’t leave too right in the middle of the lunch shift.”  She asked, biting her lip.

“Why don’t you go ahead?  I haven’t had lunch yet.”  Sam said, swallowing when Tish smiled at him.  Dean looked between them and grinned, sliding out of the booth.  The younger Winchester blushed and looked down at the table, unable to hide his pleased smile when he looked back up at the waitress.

“You so owe me one for this.”  He laughed as he headed out of the shop, leaving Tish to give Sam and once over.

“That was un expected.”  Sam laughed, running a hand through his hair.  Tish perched on the end of the table, smiling at him curiously.  “Usually Dean’s the one doing this sort of thing.”

“And what sort of thing is this exactly?”  She asked, Piper and Jen grinning back at the counter.  While they both were seeing people, neither of them were quiet that they still liked to live vicariously through Tish and her exploits with men. 

After a two month mourning period after her and Priestly finally called it quits – not messy, like Trucker and Jen had worried it would be, but a mutual decision that they just didn’t fit together romantically the way they’d both hoped they would and the realization that they made better friends than lovers – Tish had gotten right back into the saddle, though now she was more careful on who she picked after her massive mistake with Tad and his creeper roommate Brad. 

“Well… why don’t you tell me?”  Sam asked, Tish smiling warmly at the open look of anticipation and attraction on his face.

“You don’t do this often, do you?”  She asked, taking his hand when he shrugged.  “You seem like a nice guy Sam. I doubt a fling with me is really what you’re looking for.”

“I don’t pick up chicks the way my brother does, no, but that doesn’t mean I can’t see an attractive, special girl and jump at the chance to be with her, even if it’s only for a little while.”  He said, squeezing her hand in his.  She looked down at their fingers, her face going a little pink.  “We move around too much for anything really permanent, you know?  But that doesn’t mean I can’t try occasionally if I see something worth trying for.” 

“You don’t even know me though.”  She said, her voice tight.  “I’m not exactly a good girl.”

“I’d still like a chance to decide that for myself, if you’ll let me.”  She looked up at him as he let go of her hand, taking in the warmth in his eyes and the way it made her feel like she would be kicking a puppy if she turned him down.  “We’ll be in town for a few weeks from the sounds of things, so there’s no rush.  If you change your mind and want to go out to dinner sometime or something, I’ll be around, okay?”

“For now, why don’t I get you a sub and think on it?”  She asked, smiling and heading over to the counter when he nodded.  Piper and Jen shared a look, but neither of them said anything as Tish put on her apron. 

For the first time, she was totally out of her comfort zone with a guy.

 

 

******

It wasn’t hard to find Priestly in the dark, dimly lit bar – not many guys, even the ones who drank hard liquor in the middle of the day, were bold enough to rock a bright green and gold kilt with a pink Mohawk.  Dean took a seat at the bar next to him and ordered a drink, clapping a hand on his new friend’s shoulder as he waited for his glass.

“Did Tish send you?”  He asked, leaning his forehead onto the bar when Dean nodded.  “I love her to death, but God, I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Do I look like I watch children to you?”  Dean asked, thanking the bartender as he set his drink down in front of him.  “She just wanted me to check up on you, see if you were okay.  I don’t think she meant to upset you as much as she did.”

“Still, she did.  She knows how much I hate my first name, they all do.  Jesus, I only told her in the first place because she said she’d only date me if I told her.”  He hissed, downing the rest of his drink.  Dean snapped his fingers to get the bartender’s attention, pointing at Priestly.  He nodded, bringing over another.

“How many have you had?”  He asked as Priestly finished his drink and immediately ordered another.

“A fair few. Pick a different subject, one that doesn’t make me sound like an alcoholic.”

“So you to dated then huh?”  Dean asked, wondering if it was a sore subject when Priestly downed his entire drink.  “That bad, huh?”

“We just didn’t work that well.  It wasn’t bad, but there was nothing there, you know?  The chemistry was off or something, I don’t know.  I mean obviously we’re still friends; it wasn’t a bad break up or anything.  One day we were together, we talked, the next we weren’t and nothing was any different from how it had been before.  It wasn’t a loss for either of us really.”  He explained, running a finger over the rim of his glass.  “She was the first girl I’ve dated in a long time though, I’ll tell you that much.  Not a lot of women queuing up for their shot at THIS.”

“Don’t see why not.”  Dean said, Priestly snorting.  “No I’m serious, you’re a cool dude.”

“Not what girls want though – most of them either want an asshole or a handsome guy like you.”  Priestly grinned, clinking his glass against Dean’s.  “Not many dudes are lining up to meet me either.”

“People have no idea what they’re missing.”  Dean said, finishing off his drink.  Priestly turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow.  Dean looked at him, his expression mirroring his companion’s.  “What?  Why are you looking at me like that?”

“YOU date guys?”

“I tried it once or twice.”  Dean shrugged, ordering a second drink.  He couldn’t believe he was having this conversation with someone he’d just met when he’d never even mentioned it to his own brother.  “I mean, Sammy was at college and I doubt Dad ever told him, but there were a few guys I went out with regularly for a while.  None of it ever panned out, but it was okay.  Mostly the same as dating chicks.  People are people, right?”

“True that,” Priestly grinned, clapping a hand on Dean’s shoulder.  “You know, this might be the alcohol talking, but you’re very attractive.”

“Oh really now?”

“I think,” he whispered, leaning into Dean a little farther “that I’d kiss you right now if you let me.”

Neither of them spoke for a minute, staring at each other. There was a fierce determination on Priestly’s face, the line of his jaw saying quite clearly that he expected to be turned down.  Dean blinked, taking a deep breath.

“Well, I’m certainly not going to stop you.”

Priestly closed the distance between them, raising a hand to cup Dean’s face as his lips closed over his.  Outside the bar Piper raised an eyebrow, quickly heading back to the shop to tell Jen what she’d seen. 

 


	2. More than a Rest Stop

“So it’s settled then; Jen and Fuzzy can bring the macaroni salad and the rolls, Piper and Noah will bring the twice baked potatoes and the stuffing, and I’ll get the alcohol. And punch, I should probably get punch.”  Tish said, scribbling on her notepad.  Looking up as Zo and Trucker entered the shop she smiled, waving them over.  “What can I put you guys down as for the pot luck?”

“What’s she talking about?”  Trucker asked, Zo taking a seat at the bar with a soft smile. 

“We’re having a family dinner at Priestly’s tonight and decided everyone should bring stuff.”  Jen said, typing away at her computer. 

“You actually got Priestly to agree to that?”  Trucker asked, raising an eyebrow when Piper and Jen shot each other a look behind Tish’s back. 

“No, but we will when he gets back.”  Tish grinned, Trucker laughing as he got behind the counter to make Zo a six inch tofu.  “Speaking of, I sent Dean to check on him a little while ago.  I thought they’d be back by now.”

“Knowing my brother they’re still drinking.”  Sam sighed, Zo looking him over silently.  Without a word she placed a hand on his arm, sadness in her face, retracting it again before he could say anything. 

“Didn’t you go to see what was taking so long?”  Tish said turning to Piper.  She went red in the face, shaking her head.  As if smelling the gossip there, Tish pounced on her, Jen and Sam laughing at the startled look on Piper’s face.  “You DID go, I know you did!  What did you see?  Tell me, tell me, tell me!”

“Nothing, I saw nothing!”  Piper said, her voice jumping as Tish shook her.  She’d decided on the way back to keep what she’d seen to herself, just in case.  Even though she wanted to tell Jen, she wasn’t sure how Tish would react to the news, not to mention Sam for that matter.  From everything he’d said about his brother, finding out he kissed Priestly would be really out of character for his brother.  There were way too many wants this could go wrong for her to spill what she’d seen just yet.  “I went to the bar but didn’t see anything, I swear!  They were just sitting at the bar talking when I showed up!”

Zo looked between all of them, her lips pressed tight together.  Trucker watched her inquiringly, waiting for her to say the secret someone was hiding, more than a little surprised when she took the sandwich he offered and left the shop without a word.

“Okay everyone, calm down.  Tish, quit shaking Piper before you break her.”  Trucker sighed, pulling the two of them apart.  “Everyone needs to calm down before my blood pressure explodes.”

“The girls trying to kill you while I’m gone Trucker?” 

“Glad you’re back to keep them in check Priestly.”  Trucker grinned as he and Dean entered the shop, Priestly slipping behind the counter while Dean took a seat at the bar next to his brother.  “Speaking of the girls, they decided we’re all coming to your place for a family dinner tonight.”

Priestly looked up at him in surprise, turning to look at the girls eager, expecting faces.  Looking back down at the grill he took a deep breath before turning back to them. 

“Alright.”

“Great!  This is going to be so much fun!”  Tish grinned, hugging him around the waist before moving over to Jen and Piper to plan.  “How about we all meet back here at the shop at about six then?  Trucker, can we close early today?”

“Since I expect revolt if we don’t, sure, we’ll close at five.  That give you girls enough time to plot?”  He asked, heading for his office.

“Perfect!”  They all said together, laughing as Priestly rolled his eyes. 

“Great, now EVERYONE is going to know where I live.”  He muttered.  Dean and Sam exchanged a look, both of them shrugging. 

“So this is a vacation…”  Dean sighed, resting his head in his hands.  Looking sideways at his brother he grinned.  “Rather nuts, huh?  Are they always like this?”

“I always thought most people go to the beach and relax, not make friends right away and crash their pot lucks.”  Sam laughed.  “God, when’s the last time we even HAD a vacation?”

“Uh…” Dean trailed off, Piper leaning on the other side of the counter listening in.  “Now that I think about it, have we ever had a vacation?”

“I remember doing jobs with you and Dad, and then going off to Stanford… then this again.”  Sam said slowly, running a hand through his hair.  “I went to Baltimore overnight with Jess and a few of our University friends to see a symposium on modern thought and gender politics, but I don’t think that really counts.”

“Neither of you has ever had a vacation before?”  Piper asked, raising an eyebrow when they both shook their heads.  “What kind of jobs do you boys HAVE?”

“Family business, keeps us really busy.”  Sam explained, Dean nodded along with him.  “I guess I just never realized HOW busy it’s kept us over the years.”

“In that case we’re showing you all Santa Cruz has to offer in the ways of cheesy family vacation entertainment and tourist traps.”  Trish grinned, Priestly grinning as she skipped over to the boys taking them each by the hand.  “Boys, it’s time to grow back down and find your inner child.  Tomorrow, we’re taking you to an amusement park.” 

As she skipped away Dean grinned at Sam.

“God, I love being on vacation!  Letting everyone else plan things for a chance… this is nice!”

 

******

 

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for guests?”  Dean asked absently, closing his eyes as Priestly slid a hand under the back of his shirt and up his back pulling them closer together. 

“Who cares?”  He grinned, biting at Dean’s lower lip.  Dean pressed a hot kiss to his mouth, his fingers digging into the back of Priestly’s neck.  As they pulled back he smirked, nibbling at Dean’s jaw.  “Afraid your brother’s going to walk in on us?”

“A little, but it’s not enough to stop me.”  Dean smiled, nibbling down Priestly’s jaw.  He drank in the small noises, the little gasps he was wringing from his throat like they were an aphrodisiac.  “We should probably stop now, get things ready for the party.”

“It can wait.”  Priestly grinned, pulling Dean in for another kiss. 

 

******

 

 “I’m going to kill Priestly if he forgot us.”  Tish said irritably, tapping her foot as Jen rolled her eyes.  Everyone – minus Priestly, who’d taken Sam and Dean back to his place after the shop had closed while the girls ran around getting their significant others and food prepared – was currently waiting outside of the shop carrying dishes of food, or in Tish’s case, a big box of liquor and a jug of homemade punch. 

“It’s rude to kill the host you know.”  Priestly grinned as he rounded the corner, waving absently at the assembled group.  “Sorry I’m a little late, I got held up.  Everyone ready to go?”

“I’m excited to see where you live.”  Piper grinned, Noah smiling at her enthusiasm.  Julia skipped between them, humming to herself as they headed off down the street.  “Where exactly do you live?”

“Not far.”  Priestly said evasively, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket.  No one else asked him about it after that, though several looks where exchanged as they walked further and further into a nicer neighborhood.  Finally, they reached a gate, Priestly stopping in front of it.  Taking a deep breath he turned to his friends.  “Everyone, this is where I live.”

For a few minutes no one said anything, everyone staring up the lawn at the huge house before them. 

“You live… in THAT?”  Tish asked, raising an eyebrow when he nodded.  “And when we dated, you wanted to stay over at my place all the time instead of even once having me come over here?  Are you nuts?”

“I felt weird about it.”  He shrugged, turning to open the gate. “I never felt at home here, and then when my parents died, it was suddenly mine.”

“Why don’t we go inside and make some happier memories with your friends and family now then?” Zo said affectionately, a soft smile on her face when he turned to give her a look. 

“Now that’s something I can get behind!”  He smiled, opening the gate. 

 

******

 

“Jesus Christ, this is why I don’t throw parties.” 

Priestly sighed, running a hand through his drooping Mohawk.  Glancing at the clock he frowned upon seeing it was well pasted three am.  Zo had long since gone home with Trucker, Noah taking Julia home about the same time.  Somehow Tish had thought it was a brilliant idea to spike the punch to the point that there might as well have not been ‘punch’ in the bowl at all.  Jen and Fuzzy were passed out on the floor, both of them laying halfway under a sofa snoring loudly while Piper absently threw cocktail olives at the chandelier giggling her head off every time she missed. 

He didn’t even want to look in the dining room Tish and Sam had holed themselves up under the dinner table.  The noises they were making were telling enough of what they were getting up to. 

“Where the hell did Dean wander off to?”  Priestly asked aloud, not the least bit surprised when no one answered him.  Sighing he took the bowl of olives away from Piper before heading off through the house to find the missing drunken brother, rolling his eyes as he passed the dining room and heard Tish shrieking with pleasure.

After searching the whole house and coming up with nothing, Priestly headed out back.  Dean waved at him lazily as he took another drink from his beer, kicking his legs where they dangled into the pool as Priestly made his way over to him. 

“Been looking everywhere for you.”  He grinned, Dean giving him a look as he set down the bowl of olives.  “Had to take them from Piper before she choked on them.” 

“Not surprised.  No one around here knows how to hold their liquor.”  He laughed, offering Priestly his bottle.  He took it, taking a long drink before tossing the empty bottle out into the grass.  “Something tells me Tish is going to be a little bit too hung over tomorrow to drag us to an amusement park, thank God for that.”

“Yeah… about Tish.  Did you know she’s currently banging your brother under my dining room table?”  Priestly asked, both of them laughing. 

“Good for Sammy, thought he’d never get it up to ask her out.”  Dean grinned, absently pulling at the collar of his shirt.

“Need some help with that?”  Priestly said, his grin wolfish when Dean nodded and dropped his hands, allowing himself to be pulled out of his clothes.  As Priestly pressed him down onto the cool concrete around the edge of the pool and covered his body with his, Dean couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to stay here in Santa Cruz, to be rooted somewhere with this odd and enticing man currently licking and nibbling at his collar bone in a way that made his toes curl. 

It would be so easy, so normal.  They’d be dysfunctional, and yet perfect.  Sam could settle down maybe, like he’d always wanted, put his law degree to good use.  It’d be easy to stay, live by the beach and have friends he could see on a regular basis, try to forget that he knew what was out there in the world, waiting in the dark.

“And suddenly it’s like you’re a million miles away.”  Priestly said softly, breaking Dean out of his thoughts.  “What’re you thinking about ace?”

“Just how nice it is not to be on the road for a change.”  He said evasively, but Priestly didn’t push.  Standing up he offered Dean his hand, smiling when he took it.  As the made their way through the now quiet house towards his bedroom, Dean tried to memorize everything around him just in case.

He knew this couldn’t be forever.  Sooner or later, someone would call about a spirit or ghoul or something else that went bump in the night.  Someday in the future, he’d have to pry Sammy away from Tish, would have to convince himself that giving up whatever he had going with Priestly and that him leaving was in Priestly’s best interests.  He’d done this before, he knew exactly what would be said and how to cut ties.

But he didn’t want to.  Selfishly, he wanted to find a way to make this work long term, and as Priestly led him to his bed, his hands insistent and giving as they stroked down his back pulling him closer, he thought maybe he was just the person to understand why Dean had to leave – and why he would always find a way to come back. 

 


End file.
